Ocular shields are commonly used to protect a patient's eyes during various surgical procedures where scalpels, electro-cauterizers or lasers are used to carry out the surgical procedures. Protection of the patient's eyes is extremely important during these various skin resurfacing or incisional procedures when they are performed on the head or neck of a patient.
To protect the patient's eyes, a variety of shields are known and used and are designed to conform to the ocular globe with a vault over the cornea. These shields are inserted behind the lids and over the patient's eyes after application of a topical anesthetic and an ophthalmic ointment to aid in the comfort and safety of the patient. These shields must be of the proper size so as to cover the globe during the surgical procedure, especially during periorbital surgery.
Some of the presently known and used shields do incorporate a vault at the cornea to clear the area of the cornea, although some shields do not closely conform to the curvature of the globe and actually compress the cornea and may irritate it. Most of the shields currently used are interchangeable so that they will fit either globe and thus can be inserted on either side simply by inverting them. Some such shields are either round bilateral while others are shaped more elongated with a pointed area positioned nasally.
These shields that can be used on either globe require that the shields be somewhat smaller and thus do not provide complete protection for the globes. If a larger bilateral shield is used, it may hit structures surrounding the globe and be painful to wear. Such larger bilateral shields are also difficult to insert and remove.
Some shields are designed to be removed using a suction cup, while others have A gripping device, such as an integral peg or handle, to aid in the insertion and removal of the shields. Shields with a peg or handle have been used for a number of years, but the presently available shields position the peg at or near the center of the shield or at the temporal side. The shields that use handles are easier for the surgeon to remove, but in the case of either the peg or handle, they are positioned in the path of the normal movement of the upper lid. Thus, each time the upper lid closes, the handle or peg is struck by the upper lid which displaces the shield downward or may even rotate the shield rubbing it against the cornea and may occasionally cause corneal abrasion.
Depending upon the type of surgical procedure with which the ocular shields are used, they are made either of colored opaque or clear plastic or stainless steel. The plastic shields are typically used for procedures where the surgeon uses a scalpel or electrocauterizer while the metallic shields are used during surgical procedures using a laser. Most shields, whether plastic or metallic are autoclavable, although not all are.
None of the presently known ocular protective shields provide a shield large enough to protect as much as possible of the globe while still being easy to insert and remove and more comfortable for the patient. There is therefore a need for an improved shield that maximizes the protection, is easy for the surgeon to use, and which provides better comfort and less risk for the patient.